but he turn ond the iraq war and left the senate, refussed to endorse john mccain in 2008 and teamed up with barack obama. now he is the living definition of a republican in name only. there are other factors too. lindsey graham is leading the charge against hagel. have made him supremely vulnerable to a conservative primary challenge in 2014. there's no better way to shore up your standing on the right than to torment who wants to join the obama administration. israel is an issue too. over the past generation the republican party has moved farther and farther to the right on middle east issues to the point that its views are virtually indistinguishable. this they hope will entice jewish voters to give up their loyalties. it hasn't happened yet. but it's part of the same effort. what republicans have failed to produce, though, is any information or testimony that shows that hagel is unqualified or unfit to run the pentagon. this is a key point. members of the opposition party do not have to like the white house's cabinet picks. in fact, they probably shouldn't. since most presidents